Chapter Text
When Mark opened his eyes, he found himself on the floor. He felt pain in his head and neck. The alcohol was in charge of that, though Mark knew that a plant pot with remains of something that was supposed to be a plant was also here to blame.
Turning his head, he massaged the painful spot on his neck, but nothing worked and he knew why—drinking blood from someone drunk or sick was the worst if a vampire was in a starving stage. Since he was starving, he was miserable which made it easy for the intoxicated blood to intoxicate him.
Mark sighed and lifted his head to look at the human's bed. Noticing that Donghyuck was awake and sat on the edge half-clothed, the vampire mumbled a quick, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Donghyuck mumbled, not even looking at Mark. He had his head in his palms.
The vampire sat up and would've gotten up if not for a weird pain on his bottom. He froze. What the hell was this? It was like something was... Surprised, Mark dropped to his stomach and looked over his shoulder, noticing that in his pants there were several spikes. This made him look at the spot he just laid on, which then made a lot of sense. He had a freaking cactus underneath him.
Mark's face flushed in embarrassment. He not only knocked Donghyuck's plant, but he also ruined it by flattening it with his butt.
"Uh..." Mark cleared his throat.
He thought about telling Donghyuck this, but the way the human barely moved suggested he was in a bad mood.
Mark didn't want to trouble Donghyuck, therefore, he looked around for a place to hide it, and the only way to do it was to push everything under a drawer. The first three seconds were successful and he almost hid it, but on the fourth one, Donghyuck suddenly turned to him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Uh... I accidentally knocked down your plant and—"
"No," Donghyuck weakly shook his head. "I mean what are you doing here?"
"Oh..." Mark jumped to his feet. His head spun a little so he had to lean on a wall. "I came here because yesterday was my feeding day. There was some guy with you so I didn't bother you. I only got here when he left."
"How?"
"The door wasn't locked."
Mark expected a severe reaction from Donghyuck, but the latter just nodded. Why? An unlocked door meant everything! It was dangerous!
Mark went to check on the door only to find out that it was still unlocked, "Gosh," he facepalmed then turned to Donghyuck. "You should check if anything is missing. Both of us were knocked out."
"If you came here when I was alone, then why are you in this state?"
Mark paused, then decided to tell the truth, "I fed on you when you were asleep. Unfortunately, I was too miserable and your blood made me drunk too."
Donghyuck scoffed, then covered his face.
"I made a little mess," Mark went on. "Sorry about that."
The vampire expected to hear some comments, either get scolded or dismissed. Instead, Donghyuck stood up and went to the bathroom, leaving Mark confused. It got even more confusing as the vampire heard the water running in the shower.
He knew that their conversation ended and it was time for him to leave. Mark went to lock the door and then opened the window to get out.
Mark never really had a friend or someone he would think about during the long nights or breaks. The only ones who did occupy the vampire's mind were his brothers as he knew them best. When he got into university, he had several friends, but they weren't that close. No one contacted him this year. But now it seemed like things had changed. Mark couldn't get Donghyuck out of his head. Mainly, because they made a deal that involved human blood. The blood that used to be delicious and healthy, but now was mixed with alcohol and lacked vigor. But not only this. Mark felt sympathy for humans, but for Donghyuck he started feeling a little bit of empathy. As long as it didn't involve romantic feelings.
The more Mark thought the better he realized that it was only normal for it to happen. His life was quite boring if you ask him. He would work, feed on humans, call his brothers, and repeat it all over again. But ever since Mark found Donghyuck, and all because of that night he ordered pizza, his routine slowly changed. He started scheduling his feeding time and planning on how to meet the tasty human. When they made a deal—it got even better—he had a stable source and everything scheduled.
Of course, then Donghyuck's blood lost its quality but that only gave Mark more variety in his life. It was way different, challenging even when he, publishing a few articles, had to get up and go to buy pomegranate or beet juice, something he would never buy. The interesting part was that his usual routine became unpredictable, therefore not boring at all. Mark started doing whatever he wanted, especially at night whenever he chose to observe how Donghyuck dealt with his feelings.
And those feelings were the only problem that bothered Mark. He hoped for Donghyuck to move on. He wanted to call Donghyuck his human friend.
✩ ✩ ✩
Donghyuck continued drinking. As Mark understood, he only stopped when an exam was near but just as he finished one, he would drink again.
Drinking, bringing guys to his apartment, or simply getting inside their cars was his after-exam routine. Mark saw it all as he felt too worried for the human's sake so he couldn't help but take it as far as getting in the same gay bar as Donghyuck. He got there for free, in bat form, hugging a random guy's arm and once, he was in, he found the perfect spot to change into his usual form—in the bathroom. He came out and instantly noticed the human dancing with others, learning he was a regular.
Mark neither enjoyed the atmosphere, nor the music nor did he flirt or get himself a drink, so he didn't feel bad about getting inside unapproved—he was literally doing nothing. He kept clicking his tongue when human men approached him in interest, he gestured them to move away from him as all he did was walk in circles and watch Donghyuck. Noticing him walking to the door, Mark changed into the bat in the middle of dancing drunk men and jumped on his human's shoulder. The vampire had to abandon Donghyuck once he saw a guy drawing near, ready to fling his arm around his blood boy's body. Mark didn't interfere with what Donghyuck did later, though he sat on the bar roof and waited for the human to leave the stranger's car.
The human's health had to be on the line as he only drank and barely ate, and his actions were too irresponsible. Mark didn't have much experience in this kind of thing, but he was sure that Donghyuck hooked up with someone he barely knew.
At first, Mark thought that all these guys were the same guy—one boyfriend—dark-haired and around Donghyuck's height. Perhaps, the same who left those love bruises on the human's body. He thought like that just because he usually witnessed Donghyuck leaving the bar from above, on the building's roof, so he couldn't clearly see the face. But they were different guys, he soon realized as he got closer, flying past the humans and catching a glimpse of different features. Although their body build and hair color were the same.
The appearance had to be the essential part of why Donghyuck chose them. He found lots of these guys but, as Mark understood, they didn't match something he valued, so he changed them each time he went to have fun. The vampire never saw Donghyuck with the same man twice.
And that was wrong. It meant that he didn't move on. Because men Donghyuck left the bar with looked similar to Mark. He hooked up with guys who reminded him of the vampire, and they sure were identical to him when he was drunk. Mark knew what they did later on which made him awkward. Did Donghyuck want to do these things to him too?
Mark hated the last part, so he never thought about confronting Donghyuck about the guys. The only thing he really wanted to talk about was drinking. He was glad that when he reached the apartment, Donghyuck was by his desk, studying.
Mark approached the window and waved at the human to notice him. The window was tilted, which reminded the vampire of his struggles in the past. He didn't want to squeeze through as it was humiliating. But Donghyuck didn't see him which left him no other choice.
Taking a deep breath, Mark approached the top of the window and tried to get in. He struggled a lot and even tried whimpering there. Donghyuck heard nothing—he wore headphones and was too focused on a textbook. Mark instantly knew that he was fed well and was proud of it but had to turn into a mosquito to finally get inside.
Transforming back into a bat, he fell on the desk with a loud thud, startling Donghyuck and making him flinch.
"Fuck, hyung!" he yelled, dropping his headphones. "You scared me."
"Keep hyung away from that word," Mark mumbled as he jumped on his bat feet.
"Sorry," Donghyuck sighed, bending to pick up his headphones. "What brings you here?" he asked in the process.
"I want to talk to you," the bat said, glancing at the textbook. "Tell me when you're free."
Donghyuck sat up straight and put the headphones on the desk after making sure nothing broke, "I'm already interrupted."
"It's about your drinking that turned into a bad habit," Mark went straight to the point.
He tried to read Donghyuck's expression afterward, but the human's face was emotionless. He stared out the window.
"When you drink, alcohol passes to your bloodstream. Every time I drink your blood, I can feel alcohol in it. The last time wasn't the first. If you haven't noticed, it's bad for your health. You can't eat less and drink that much."
Donghyuck's face hadn't changed. He kept his eyes away from Mark's.
"Is there any way I can help you?" the vampire asked quite desperately. "Do you want to go to the same—"
"Yeah, you can and that is leaving right now," Donghyuck cut him off. "Thanks for your concern but I would love to study now."
"But—"
"I have an exam tomorrow."
Mark was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head. Donghyuck must've not taken him seriously when he was in bat form. After all, who would take him seriously—a freaking talking bat? Expecting to change something and finally kick some sense in Donghyuck's brain, Mark transformed into his usual form and leaned on his arms, "It seems like you didn't understand me. You have to stop drinking if you don't want to end up in a hospital. You used to be so healthy before. Don't harm yourself."
"Okay, thanks, I'll consider that, hyung," Donghyuck clicked his tongue. "Can I study now?"
"No," Mark said sternly.
Perhaps, Mark's voice's unusually severe manner confused Donghyuck. A little startled, the latter finally looked at the vampire with half-parted lips and dark confused eyes.
"Listen to me," Mark said, returning to his normal timbre, but keeping the same sense of authority. "If you're saying all of this just to get rid of me, it won't work. You have to realize it yourself. Continue drinking and you're digging yourself a grave. Haven't you heard about overdosing? Don't you care about your health? It affects your life! Human life is fragile, goddamn. Don't you know it?"
Donghyuck broke eye contact to shake his head.
"I-I know what I'm doing. I—"
"I don't think so," Mark interrupted him. "You drink because you can't fight your problems. Just stop weakening yourself and face reality."
The last words weren't meant to be said. Mark didn't know how he let them escape his mouth. Was he too worried? Or was he done with Donghyuck's irresponsibility?
He knew that he was right in saying this, but he should've stopped himself. There was no use in pointing this out, indirectly touching on an uncomfortable subject for them both. What Mark had to do was try and help Donghyuck. Support him. What he did was scold him, and accidentally blame him, which made him cold and distant again.
Donghyuck's expression changed and now he looked pissed.
"What if reality is too shitty?" Donghyuck scoffed. "What if I hate to be sober and awake?"
"Donghyuck..." Mark gulped.
The human didn't wait for Mark's words. He put on his headphones and locked his eyes on the textbook. Just like that, he expressed that Mark's presence was no longer needed.
The vampire sighed and opened the window to leave. As always, he landed on a tree. There he spent at least six minutes staring at Donghyuck, waiting for something.
In the seventh minute, Donghyuck broke. He snuggled the desk and cried.